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Friday, October 28, 2011

budget friendly scrapbooking {a magazine review}

Let me apologize in advance for the lack of photos in this post-I'll be back this weekend with the snow layout I promised last week.
Today, I want to share my review of a magazine I recently picked up at Hobby Lobby-Creating Keepsakes' Budget Friendly Scrapbooking. First of all, I have a hard time with a "budget friendly" magazine that costs $14.99 retail. Especially when it has about the same number of pages and ideas as a normal issue of Creating Keepsakes. I purchased mine with a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby-still a little high but not totally ridiculous.

The magazine {I refuse to call it an idea book} was laid out in the following sections and I'll do a quick review of each:
Accent Swap-Good ideas but little to no direction on how to create the accents and each of the layouts had a LOT of product besides the "accents" that were swapped.

Wallet Savvy Organization-I would have like to seen real pieces from flea markets/yard sales made into functional organization pieces. Instead, the magazine showed organzation pieces that were clearly purchased new made to look "old". Show me how to do it not what it could look like.

Planning for Scrapbooking-This article actually made me mad. Because it was such a waste of space. The photo printing chart on page 23 took up the WHOLE page and was completely pointless. The whole article had me scratching my head-long term versus short term investments and using patterned paper for more than one layout...all common sense ideas that most scrapbookers are all too familiar with.

Using Sketches-Again, not sure how budget friendly this one was since the majority of layouts used a ton of product. Not to mention the "Manage Your Budget by Using a Kit Club" story. Really? You pay a premium to have some one else pick out papers and embellishments that go together. There is no way that is budget friendly. It might be a time saver, but it doesn't save you money. You can save money by finding kits with a style you like and buying the paper and elements you can afford. {I have nothing against kits, I have bought them and loved them but it is not okay to pretend they are somehow cheaper when they aren't.}

Keep It Simple Scrapbooker-Finally, an article that actually gave tips on being budget friendly! This article was well written and had a wealth of great info. The layouts weren't product heavy. I knew I could recreate them without spending $5-10 on each layout. I also liked the "One Product, Three Ways" story. It was interesting to see how different scrapbookers used the same materials.

Stretch Your Supplies-Another great article! Loved the cutting guides that showed how to turn one 12 x 12 piece of paper into smaller sheets-just wish they had included more! Loved the practical ideas on what to do with leftover stickers, pieces of ribbon, etc.


Use Your Scraps-This article really should have been the focus of the magazine. So many great ideas that they just barely touched on. Disappointed that they gave so little space and focus to this but loved what little they provided.


Found Item Fun-Weird and out of place. Not worth it's own article.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed. {I would have been down right mad had I spent $15!} Only 2-3 articles were actually helpful in providing budget friendly tips. The rest just seemed like more the usual CK product heavy layouts we see every month, which is fine if that is what you are expecting but if you are expecting to get realistic tips and tricks to help save you money with your scrapbooking-this isn't it. This definitely wasn't worth a $15 price tag. However, if you find it for $6 or less it's worth a read. The Keep It Simple, Stretch Your Supplies, and Use Your Scraps articles deserve a second look. :)

Be back this weekend with a layout! Have a great Friday!

Friday, October 21, 2011

it's your birthday shout hooray {a scrapbook layout}

I recently went to the amazing 43% off patterned paper sale at Archiver's. Let me just tell you that is a smoking hot deal. I got a ton of Basic Grey {mostly Oxford}, Simple Stories, Jillibean, and, of course, my current obsession-Bella Blvd. If they run another one of these, I highly recommend it, definitely worth the trip.
Anywho, I got a chance to do some crafting Friday night and worked on two layouts and my December Daily. {I'm very excited about my DD-I will share that in a couple of weeks!}

I'm sharing my first layout today-Jackson's 7th Birthday. Poor Jackson, we usually are on vacation for his birthday {he's a July baby}and this year we were gone the week before, so we decided to let him open his present early. Especially since his present was a Playstation Portable-something he would definitely enjoy on the 14 hour car ride to Florida!

I used the new Simple Stories Birthday line for this layout. This is all from one sheet of patterned paper and some journal cards! When you figure in the cardstock this layout cost me about $3.00 to make. Nice!


Love these Journal Cards-great for a quick and easy title!



Not sure if you can tell in the picture but that green dot strip is actually a ribbon.
I had some Simple Stories ribbon in my stash that matched the papers and I thought it added a little something extra.



Love this line of products, makes things super easy.
I will be sharing my other layout (a SNOW layout!!) early next week, I also have plans to share my thoughts on a new magazine I picked up last week "Creating Keepsakes: Budget Friendly Scrapbooking"-so check back for that!
Have a great weekend!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

escape {a scrapbook layout}

We've been doing a little bit of cleaning around the house and came across a stack of photos from our trip to Holland, MI way back in 2005. That trip was a just a little weekend away but was packed with memories. It took place just about a month after our son had major surgery to remove tumors from a neural tube disorder. So it was an escape for us in many different ways. {Our Jackson is totally fine-he had no lasting issues and is totally on track developmentally & physically-just some scarring from his surgery-God is so good!}
Every time I think of Holland, I think of the beautiful flowers we saw-even in September. So I knew I had to use some floral paper on this layout and some flower accents.

Used those Amy Tangerine letters I love so much and some more of my Elle's Studio goodies.How did I never know about Elle's before? I've placed two orders since I won a package of goodies in August and have wish list together for another order!
{And totally off topic-my hair is ridiculous in these pictures-I had some really bad hair choices there for awhile, sigh.}
I am super excited because my new Canon DSLR arrived at my house at my house today!! Can't wait to get through work and parent/teacher conferences so I can play with it! Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

abc's of me {a little bit about me}

This has been on quite a few blogs lately, so I thought I'd join in on the fun.
A. Age: 34 and 10 months {sigh}
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore that you hate: Mopping. Bleh.
D. Dogs: Conan, terrier mix.
E. Essential start to your day: Ice cold Coke and at least one Zac Brown Band song
F. Favorite color: Green but not just any green.
G. Gold or Silver: Silver
H. Height: 5' 3 1/2"
I. Instruments you play: long ago I played clarinet and flute {loooooong ago}
J. Job title: Marketing Manager and Momma {I prefer Momma}
K. Kids: 4, Bryce, Jarron, Jackson, and Brody {aka Moose}

L. Live: Fairfield, Ohio
M. Mother’s name: Patty
N. Nicknames: Christi, Great Lakes, Veronica {from the Archie comics-my blonde friend was Betty}
O. Overnight hospital stays: 5 {all childbirth/pregnancy related}
P. Pet peeves: things that don't match {for example if all of my pushpins are silver and one is white-that white one will drive me crazy}, rain on field trip day, slow drivers on the highway, so many things...
Q. Quote from a movie: "What road is this we are on? Bob's Road?" Twister, my favorite movie, ever. I know just about every line.
R. Right or left handed: Right handed
S. Siblings: 1-the little brother.
T. Time I Get Up Each Morning: Weekdays-6:00AM, Saturdays & Sundays-7:30AM
U. Underwear: Of course, I'm a momma. I have to set a good example. {And ewwwww, who doesn't?}
V. Vegetable you hate: Peas
W. What makes you run late: I plead 4 kids.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Knees, Ribs, Head, Foot, Chest, more ultrasounds than I can remember {at least 40}
Y. Yummy food that you make: I'm told my pork chops and lasagna are very tasty.
Z. Zoo animal: Penguins and Peacocks. Love them.

There you have it, a little bit more about me {and a layout sneaked in for good measure}.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

santa rosa beach 2011 {scrapbook layout-vacation albums}

I miss the beach. I love the beach, it's my favorite place to be. Ever. If it weren't for pesky things like jobs and family, I'd spend all day, every day on a beach somewhere.
Which is funny. Because I live in landlocked Ohio. :/  I'm where I should be, but sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I was supposed to be somewhere else.
Instead, I satisfy my beach craving once a year with a trip down South. This year it was to Santa Rosa Beach {just east of Destin}. So beautiful, definitely a place we will be returning to again and again. The perfect vacation spot for our family-plenty to do {or not do} depending on our mood.
This is the first of many layouts from this year's vacation album.


I'm using Echo Park's Splash line almost exclusively for this album. Excellent for this trip. Love all of the cool letters and extras that come with this kit.

I've been on a total circle kick lately. Just love my circle punches!! Love the look of different patterned papers stacked in different size circles!

Instead of a brad, I raided my stash for some fun little clear glitter beach stickers to act as my "brads" for the center of my circles. {These are tiny little suns.}
I added my favorite picture of the boys, some beach scenes and viola! Layout done!
For my next beach layout, a put together a little beach scene with some of the cardstock stickers, since this layout is all about the boys and their sand-castle building. Okay, their sand digging, my kids seem to love digging ginormous holes. 


More circles and I even used the negatives from punching out my circles as a page element. :)

I won't even tell you how long it took me to arrange and re-arrange photos before I got them all on the layout. But it was awhile. Totally worth it.
Now I'm going to go listen to some Zac Brown Band and pretend I'm on the sugar white sands instead of wrapping things up on my 2012 marketing budgets and taking kids to dentist appointments.
Happy Tuesday!